Franklin suffered from obesity throughout his middle-aged and later years, which resulted in multiple health problems, particularly gout, which became worse as he aged. In poor health during the signing of the US Constitution in 1787, he was rarely seen in public from then until his death. Franklin died from pleuritic attack at his home in Philadelphia on April 17, 1790, at age 84.

The Ford Motor Company unveiled its new Mustang model on this day in 1964 at the New York World’s Fair. Ford anticipated they would sell around 100,000 units a year, and were somewhat unprepared when they received 22,000 orders in the first day alone!

Douglas General MacArthur Address a Joint session of the U.S. Congress on April 19, 1951 in Washington D. C.

It was on this day in 1976.

Hughes was an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, film director, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most financially successful individuals in the world.

Howard Robard Hughes Jr.(December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976)

Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915)

Booker T. Washington was a educator, author, orator, and advisor to presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American community. He was from the last generation of black American leaders born into slavery and becamethe leading voice of former slaves and their descendants.

Booker T. Washington giving a lecture in Carnegie Hall, 1906.

On this day in 1984, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers) became the all-time NBA regular season scoring leader when he broke Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 31,419 career points.

On this day in 1954, the U.S. Senate voted to condemn Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy for what it called "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute." The censure was related to McCarthy’s controversial investigation of suspected communists in the U.S. government, military and civilian society.

A self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated by Dr. Enrico Fermi (below) and his staff at the University of Chicago on this day in 1942.

On this day in 2001, Enron Corp. filed for Chapter 11 reorganization five days after Dynegy walked away from a $8.4 billion buyout. It was the largest bankruptcy inU.S. history.

On this day in 1993.

On the day in 1982, Doctors at the University of Utah implanted a permanent artificial heart in the chest of retired dentist Barney Clark (below). He lived 112 days with the device. The operation was the first of its kind.